In Helaman 13:27-28 it says:
But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth--and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet. Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him.
Hugh Nibley notes that [a unique] surviving book from the Mayan civilization of Central America is the Chilam Balam. It tells us that when a man was acclaimed as a prophet, the people would dress him in fine apparel, put him on a sedan chair, lift him up and carry him around town on their shoulders. That is exactly what happens here. . . . Well, this is a picture from the Chilam Balam. The prophet is accepted. He is dressed in fine apparel. You notice the outrageous overdressing of these people. They put him on a sedan chair, lift him up and carry him around town. Well, every word of this rings true. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 3, p. 276]
Helaman 13:28 Ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance ([Illustration]): The higher the prestige of the person being carried, the fancier the litter. This is an artist's representation of the Aztec ruler's plush "vehicle." John Sorenson notes that this form of transport was reserved for nobility and others of the upper social levels. To have used any other mode would have been to give up privilege and demean oneself. Privileged and sacred leaders were similarly carried in the stretch of the Old World from the eastern Mediterranean through southeast Asia in earlier times. [John L. Sorenson, Images of Ancient America, p. 58]